Passmore U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,540 recognizes the variable resistance behavior of tungsten filaments in lamps or bulbs and suggests that, because of low filament resistance when the filament is cold, a high current flow at turn-on time is a significant factor in the failure rate of the lamp. The patentee limits the current flow by providing a fixed resistance in series with the filament to limit current flow until after the filament has warmed up. A temperature-sensitive bimetallic switch has contacts in parallel with the resistor for shorting out the resistance when the filament has warmed up to some predetermined temperature. The arrangement provides a static control, that is, the current-limiting resistance is constant throughout the filament warm-up interval. The arrangement requires a mechanical temperature sensor which is an additional source of failure. A further disadvantage of this device is that the temperature sensor must be in close proximity to the filament and within the lamp thus requiring special lamp manufacturing procedures.